VICTORIAN vehicle engineering specialist Premcar has completed a $1.53 million project to re-engineer and enhance a Cummins engine for use in defence force vehicles.

Premcar is a niche-manufacturing vehicle engineering business that operates in automotive, defence, aerospace and rail sectors. It is better known as the builder of the Nissan Navara Warrior and Patrol Warrior models that have been on the market in Australia since 2019 and are now being exported.

The Australian defence force and Premcar have declined to specify which vehicle is likely to be the recipient of the engine. Three vehicles – the Bushmaster, Hawkei and Boxer – are made in Australia and used by the defence force.

Of these, the vehicle most likely to be fitted with the new engine is the Boxer. Australia recently won a $1 billion contract to supply the German Army with 100 Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles (CRVs), to be built by Rheinmetall in Queensland.Premcar completed the project with the aid of the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC).

Work on the Cummins engine involved Premcar designing, engineering, fitting and testing the engine after developing new control systems.

AMGC said that Premcar started with a rolling chassis and then developed new intake and exhaust systems, engine-charge air-cooling systems, engine mounts, lubrication systems, electrical wiring – including integration into the existing vehicle communications (CAN-bus) systems. Engine control systems, cooling systems and fuel systems were also included in the brief. 

Premcar also handled total packaging and transmission calibration for the drivetrain.

“Upskilling and continuously learning throughout the program, the Premcar team and its industrial partner, Cummins, completed the program in under two years,” AMGC said.

The project culminated with a successful field trial at the Australian Automotive Research Centre (AARC) in Victoria in partnership with the original equipment manufacturer that certified the new powertrain for both Australian and export vehicles.

Premcar CEO Bernard Quinn said in a statement that “programs like the defence powertrain project are transformative for manufacturing and engineering businesses like Premcar.”

“It is one thing to be trusted with consumer products and another to work alongside the defence industry to deliver something as critical as a drivetrain.

“As a result of the AMGC project, we are now a diversified business operating in the defence sector, employing more staff and equipped to pursue opportunities in the rail and road infrastructure sectors, thanks to the skills and certifications gained along the way.”During the two-year project, six new roles were created, and 11 existing staff members were upskilled at the manufacturer’s headquarters. 

In addition, successful certification and testing of the Premcar drivetrain now opens export opportunities for defence vehicles from Australia with other nations understood to be evaluating use of the vehicle.

AMGC managing director Jens Goennemann said: “Capability and diversity are the keys to manufacturing success in Australia and Premcar excels at both.” 

“By taking the knowledge they have built over a quarter century in the automotive industry and applying them to the defence industry, Australia ends up with a more resilient manufacturer and a better product for defence – it is a win-win.

“Premcar shows that if you view manufacturing through a capability lens, then anything is possible, with knowledge, skills and expertise the bridge to greater sovereign capability, capacity, and prosperity.”

About Premcar

Premcar Pty Ltd is an Australian vehicle engineering business specialising in the automotive, defence and aerospace industries.

It has for more than 25 years been contracted to work with OEMs on projects such as the complete design, engineering and manufacture of niche-model new cars; full-scale new-vehicle development programs; as well as electric vehicle (EV) conversions and manufacturing.

Premcar is the often silent name behind more than 200,000 new cars and 55,000 new-vehicle engines and has delivered technical advancements and sales success for major car brands from Europe, the US, Japan, China and Australia.

About AMGC

The Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC) is an industry-led, not-for-profit organisation established through the Australian Government’s Industry Growth Centres Initiative. 

Its mandate is to transform Australian manufacturing to become an internationally competitive, dynamic and thriving industry with advanced capabilities and skills at its core.

Through the delivery of world-leading research, its Manufacturing Academy, workshops, and ground-breaking projects, AMGC aims to develop a highly skilled and resilient local manufacturing industry that delivers high-value products – via the integration of innovative technology – to domestic and international markets.